


history in these streets

by sleep_deprived_writer



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Childhood Friends, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, god its a mess but i love it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:01:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24264754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleep_deprived_writer/pseuds/sleep_deprived_writer
Summary: Alex and Henry have been best friends forever. Enjoy their ups and downs and soulmate.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 9
Kudos: 85
Collections: RWRB Spring Fling Exchange





	history in these streets

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yeekult](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=yeekult).



> i wrote this for the lovely Scarlett who gave me my dream prompt. i hope i did your dreams justice :)  
> please enjoy y'all

It was raining on Alex’s first day of kindergarten. And the fading tear streaks on his face gave away that he was not happy about it at all.  
He wanted to stay home like they always did on rainy days. He hated rainy days where he had to leave the house. His mom hated rainy days too. They would stay inside and cook. (Well, his mom would, Alex would stand on a stool and watch her.)  
Alex was scared about going to kindergarten, but he wasn’t going to tell anyone that at all. Alex wanted to make so many friends. He had on his Captain America backpack that he had begged his parents for. His dad had said no but his mom had said yes. While they fought June and Alex played hide and seek in the clothes racks. Their parents didn’t notice, and without another word the Captain America backpack was in the shopping basket.  
Alex’s mom hugged him goodbye yesterday before she went on a trip. When she had hugged him he wiggled out of her grip with a grin. When Alex’s dad hugged him goodbye Alex didn’t want to let go. He was scared of leaving. With a final squeeze, he wriggled out of his dad’s grasp.  
“Good luck, mijo.” Alex’s dad said standing up and ruffling Alex's curls.  
“Thanks, Pa.” Alex said with a smile. “Bye, Pa.” Alex ran off to the open door of his classroom.  
The walls were covered in words and numbers and frogs. There were frogs everywhere. There was a huge carpet on one side of the room that had a bunch of different colored squares in the colors of the rainbow. There were already some kids on the squares, while others were playing with the blocks that were to the side of the carpet. The teacher was watching it all from a chair in the front.  
Alex sat down on the carpet on a purple square that was right next to a blond boy and his purple square. Alex sat next to the boy, not saying anything until he got bored. Which wasn't very long.  
"Hi, my name’s Alex." Alex stuck his hand out like his mom taught him to. "What's your name?" The boy looked at Alex's hand like it was dangerous, but he still took it. Alex noticed his hands were soft.  
"My name is Henry." said the boy. His voice sounded strange but Alex knew better than to say something. He had gotten into trouble for telling someone their voice sounded funny before. There was a girl with poofy hair in front of him. He tapped her shoulder to tell her. She turned around and looked confused.  
"Hi, my name’s Alex and I like your hair. It's poofy." Alex smiled at her.  
"My name is Nora," Nora said. Nora looked at Henry. "Whas your name?"  
"It's Henry." Henry smiled tentatively. Alex had an idea.  
“Let’s be best friends!” Alex announced. The other two children smiled and nodded. Alex lunged at Nora and hugged her. Then he quickly let go and did the same to Henry. They all were laughing when the school bell rang.  
𝌀  
When he was 5 and Henry was 6 (just barely) Alex got into a fight because a boy named Clay pushed Henry and pulled Nora’s hair. He punched Clay in the nose, and Clay punched his eye before the teacher saw them. When the teacher caught them she started to yell at Alex for starting it. They both got sent to the principal’s office. They both got suspended for fighting.  
Alex’s dad picked him up from the school. Oscar talked to him and told him that there were better ways to stand up for friends and gave him a time out. Alex’s mom ‘talked’ to him when she got back from Washington D.C. Ellen said a bunch of things about how it would look to other people and then gave him a time out.  
Henry, Alex, and Nora were inseparable. They ate lunch together, they played together, they did everything together. Alex and Henry joined Cub Scouts and Nora couldn’t join Cub Scouts so she joined Girl Scouts before immediately quitting. Alex protested Girl Scout cookies for a week after she quit before giving in the second a Thin Mint was waved in front of his face.  
About a week before Christmas break, Henry had to leave for somewhere else. His dad was an actor in one of the big kid films Alex’s parents never let him see. Henry was visiting him in London. Alex and Nora were left behind. They didn’t know what to do. All of the games they played involved three people. They had to come up with less fun games.  
When Henry came back Nora and Alex hugged him for a long time. They played all of the games that they couldn’t play without Henry and then came up with some more.  
Then Alex had to leave. His mom had a huge meeting in Washington D.C. and needed her family there. Alex was gone for one week. He missed his friends terribly. June was fun but she didn’t know any of the games he liked to play. She just wanted to try and stuff him into dresses. When he went to the party so many people looked at him weirdly and just ruffled his hair when he tried to talk to them.  
When they left the party and got on the plane his mom told him that she was proud while she was looking at her phone. Alex was happy but he was pretty certain you should look at people when talking to them.  
When Alex got back his parents told him he couldn’t see Nora or Henry because he had gotten sick. Two days later Henry and his dad showed up with The Princess Bride and soup. Alex and Henry fell asleep on the couch half-way through the movie. Their parents took lots of pictures. 

Halfway through 5th grade Henry had to leave for a month to go to England. During that month Alex was miserable. He and Nora were friends. Close ones. And he was happy that she was there but he missed Henry for more than just the company.  
Henry was tall for his age. Alex was not. Alex also wore glasses and did things like daydream or blurt out the answer before a question was finished.  
This made him a prime target for the school yard bullies, who loved to pick on anyone slightly different. Things never got physical. The bullies were too afraid that Alex would fight back to ever touch him. (Alex always fought back verbally but the bullies were normally too busy laughing at their own taunts to hear him)  
Alex knew he wasn’t the only one getting hurt by the bullies. The ever-loyal Nora stood by his side through all of it, and as a consequence, she got bullied too.  
Alex just wanted it to stop. He knew how to make it stop, but Oscar had sat him down after one of the bullies had broken his glasses and told him to never let the bullies see that they got to you.  
Alex took this to heart and never once cried in front of the bullies, (In the back of the library during lunch, however, it was free game) and he never threw the first punch.  
This lasted until Henry got back.  
Henry was normally the calm one. The one that watched and held the other’s shirt back when Alex or Nora got into an argument with someone, but not this time.  
Alex was having a particularly bad day. His parents had fought the night before and he and June couldn’t seem to drown it out like they normally did. His parents also fought over breakfast so that meant that Alex and June were late for school. That meant that they had to serve lunch detention. Which for Alex was worse than suspension.  
This meant that when the bullies decided to strike at recess while he was sharing the apology snack that Ellen had put in his backpack with Nora and Henry.  
When a sickeningly familiar voice called out “Hey, Shrimp!” Alex could already feel his face grow hot, but he ignored it. So did Nora. But, Henry stood up from his place in between Alex and Nora.  
Normally this is when the bullies would stand down but they had gotten cocky.  
“Oh look, Shrimp has gotten himself a shield.” One of the taunting voices said. Henry stayed silent but from his position on the ground Alex could see Henry’s hand clench into a fist. Alex stood up quickly.  
That made the lead bully take a step in Alex’s direction. That was all Henry needed to swing his fist. Someone else, probably Alex, swung their fist.  
The next thing Alex remembers was sitting in the principal's office laughing and grinning with Henry as they held ice packs to their face.  
When Alex’s parents showed up there was a lot of righteous indignation and angry threats.  
Needless to say Alex and Henry only got two days of lunch detention and the bullies got a week of in school suspension.  
The next month Alex and Henry went on a Boy Scout camping trip. Henry’s dad was one of the chaperones. He brought his guitar and would play music from a different rock band every night. He would also slather Henry in sunscreen in the hopes that it wouldn’t burn. It didn’t work. Henry’s skin peeled so much that after they got back his mom said she’d never let him go on another camping trip. (She caved immediately the next time they went on a camping trip). Seeing Henry’s parents, the very definition of soulmates, made Alex calm after the exciting weekend.  
Alex had spent the night at Henry’s house after they got back so it wasn’t until Monday after school that he returned to see a half empty house with a U-Haul parked on the curb. Alex was so confused but when he saw his parents’ angry looks and dark circles he understood.  
They finally broke.  
All of Oscar's belongings were going to his new house on the other side of Old West Austin. So were half of June’s and half of Alex’s. They automatically knew that they’d get new things, but Alex just wanted his parents to stay together.  
The week after Alex’s parents split, Alex and June got into a fight. It was over the color of June’s shirt and it only lasted a few minutes, but they still didn’t talk for a week.  
They were all miserable. Oscar had grown a beard. Ellen’s clothes were always wrinkled. June’s hair was always frizzy and never done. And Alex- Alex could feel a humming in the back of his head. His hands shook constantly. None of his school work was getting done because his mind wouldn’t stay still.  
Henry and Nora were the only things stable in Alex’s life. Alex would not have gotten through the divorce if not for them. They both had the uncanny ability to read Alex extremely well. They always knew when he needed to be distracted or when he wanted to be left alone.  
When his parents finally figured everything out. Alex was 12. There was constant arguing between his parents despite them hardly seeing each other. All of the missing stuff in each of the houses had filled out, but it wasn’t the same. When they were at Oscar’s, Alex couldn’t sleep. He would stay up focusing intently on either his schoolwork or his ceiling fan until his body would give out and finally sleep.  
During the sleepless nights, one of the most common thoughts was wondering if having a soulmate was worth it. His parents were in so much pain because of it. But when Alex would go to Henry’s house he would change his mind. Alex was afraid of becoming either of his parents but hopeful that he would be like Henry’s.

When Alex turned 15 his soulmark appeared on his hip. He told no one what it was and he told no one where it was. Only that he had gotten it.  
He definitely didn’t mention that it was outlined in red or in the shape of a firefly. He couldn’t handle the speculation and expectation from the people around him .  
June had found what it was a month after he got it. He was getting out of the shower when she walked in and saw it.That weekend they had stayed up till dawn passing a bottle of Maker’s between them. June had shown him her soulmark. It was a champagne bottle outlined in red twice, meaning that she had two soulmates. They both voiced their concerns and hopes. It felt good to talk with someone who understood, and he knew June wouldn’t spill his secrets.  
The next week, though, one of his lacrosse teammates saw it while they were changing after a game and it sent Alex into a spiral. The taunts from his teammates were constant and unbearable. Sure, they were meant to be teasing and good natured, but after a week of the consistent pestering, he snapped. Liam had said something offhanded about his parents and the familiar buzzing that Alex’s wishes would disappear forever appeared in the back of his head.  
Alex got his wax pen and his spare bottle of Maker’s and went for a walk. He knew where to go to not get caught. And he knew it was a bad idea to get caught but he couldn’t find it in himself to give a shit.  
As he walked the streets of Old West Austin slowly getting more and more faded he grew closer to a house that had become his safe haven- Henry’s.  
He doesn’t remember much. Just throwing a rock at Henry’s window and Henry opening it immediately. He took one look at Alex and called down to go around the back. He snuck Alex in and took him up to his room. Henry pried the whisky and weed from Alex’s limp fingers, sat him on the bed, and handed him the water that was on his nightstand. once Henry seemed satisfied with the amount of water Alex drank he put a record on his record player so that they could talk.  
And talk they did. Once Henry laid down next to him Alex told him about the lacrosse team and the teasing. Alex had already told him and Nora some of it but he had tried to not let it show that it bothered him. So when Alex started to tell Henry the truth, his hands started to shake and he couldn’t keep himself up any longer. He fell back on the bed next to Henry. There were tears in Alex’s eyes. The combination of the weed, alcohol, and emotions had driven him over the edge. When Henry noticed Alex’s shaking shoulders, he pulled Alex to his chest and he sobbed into Henry’s chest while Henry made soothing noises and rubbed his back.  
Alex soon fell asleep on Henry’s chest, completely exhausted. When Alex woke up the next day ,still in Henry’s arms, he stayed there, basking in the closeness.  
The aftermath of Alex’s breakdown was minor, considering. All he got was a god-awful hangover and a lecture from his parents about sneaking off.  
Alex didn’t do it again (at least not without telling his parents where he was going).  
When Alex was 16 he went to prom with Nora and Henry. He had made some huge speech about not wanting to conform to society’s expectations, which was part of the reason, but in reality he just wanted to go with people he was comfortable with.  
Prom was terrible. The gym was hot as fuck. The decorations were falling off the wall. The DJ was half asleep and most likely on something. As soon as he stepped in he wanted to leave, but he had promised June that no matter how bad it was he would stay for an hour. He lost Nora as soon as they walked in. He knew she was going off to find Pez and Bea but he also didn’t know where they were.  
Henry was still by his side and looking as shocked as usual so Alex had dragged Henry with him to make the rounds. Alex grinned and cracked jokes but he always kept Henry next to him, hand gently guiding him as they worked their way through the crowd.  
When they both decided that they wanted to leave they found Pez, Nora, and June making out behind the gym. Alex was their ride but they seemed content to ride with Pez.  
They were all planning to go to Oscar’s lake house to spend some time together. Alex and Henry decided to just go ahead to the lake house and the others would meet them there.  
When they arrived at the lake house Alex was struggling to pay attention to the road and Henry, though he was staying awake to help Alex, was half asleep. When the Jeep finally pulled into the driveway Alex looked over at the lake and immediately pepped back up and so did Henry. There was some sleepy laughter as they tumbled into the house and stripped off their clothes.  
They ran out to the lake and jumped off the dock scaring all of the fireflies that had gathered. The water was cold but Alex wasn’t bothered by it at all. Neither of them did anything for a while just enjoying the silence. Alex took in his surroundings but Henry kept drawing him back. The look of awe on his face was highlighted by the light of the full moon. It made Henry glow.  
Alex thought to himself oh shit when Henry turned and smiled at him. Something in Alex’s face drew Henry to him. When he got to Alex he was at a loss. His brain, that normally went 100 miles an hour, froze- that is, until Henry reached out to brush one of Alex’s curls behind his ear. Then Alex knew what to do. He reached out to Henry with a whispered ‘I love you’. Henry froze and so did Alex. He was so afraid that he had ruined the best thing that he had ever gotten. His mind was flying everywhere until he felt Henry’s hands on either of his face. Henry leaned in until their lips were millimeters apart. ‘I love you too’ is what Henry whispered before closing what distance was left and Alex wasn’t afraid any more.  
Later that night Henry would trace the soulmark on Alex’s hipbone and Alex would trace the matching oneon Henry’s rib. Alex wondered what the future would be, and he was afraid, but he couldn’t imagine Henry not being by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> a hugeeee thanks to the angel Lise and the lovely Dij for listening to me scream and making this mess make sense. i hope y'all enjoyed.  
> (and yes the song title is Troye Sivan i couldn't help myself). Also come and join us.   
> The Red, White, and Royal Blue Server:https://discord.gg/34ACzGs


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